First Snow
by kitmistress
Summary: First snowfall is beautiful, except in the eyes of one depressed Hanyou. Can Captain Sesshy break the depression?


First Snow

Inuyasha sat at the window in his room, glaring out onto the white ground. It had started to snow two days ago and still the sky released more, as if the clouds themselves were falling to the ground. Everything was covered in white. Trees bent under the weight but still they stood tall.

Inuyasha wished he could be like a tree and stand tall even when covered thickly in snow, but every time he saw it, Inuyasha only remembered the times of his childhood, after his mother had passed when he was left to freeze in the snow. He hated winter, always had. His mother always got sick in the winter, meaning he had to take care of himself, and when that happened it always ended up with him being beaten up. When he was little he would pass out from the beatings and wake up with a pile of snow surrounding him. Even though snow was a good insulator, it was still cold.

Inuyasha hated being cold, so when Sesshomaru's warm arms wrapped around his waist, Inuyasha snuggled back into his chest.

"My dear brother, what are you staring at?"

"The snow." Inuyasha gave up looking at the frozen specks to turn into Sesshomaru's chest, warming his cold cheeks.

"You will stare at it for hours yet you will not venture into it. Why, young one, do you stare at it?" Sesshomaru asked, curling his Mako Mako around Inuyasha's chilled body.

"Just remembering. But I rather not even remember," Inuyasha mumbled.

"Alright then. Inuyasha, it is past time for you to be in bed, get going." Sesshomaru expected Inuyasha to put up a fight like he did every night since Sesshomaru had brought him to the castle. Instead Inuyasha pulled out of Sesshomaru's warmth and mutely walked to the bed, crawling under the blankets and pulling them tight around him. Sesshomaru's face didn't move but he was surprised.

All day Inuyasha had been kept busy so he hadn't had a chance to look out any of the windows. Sesshomaru always made sure to keep Inuyasha busy during the first snowfall of the year and had hoped that this year's first snow wouldn't stick. Sadly it had and now he had to deal with a miserable brother and mate, but never in all the years they had been together had Sesshomaru seen Inuyasha this bad. Tomorrow he would end Inuyasha's suffering. Tomorrow.

Inuyasha's mood didn't improve any while he slept, it didn't help that it hadn't stopped snowing. Inuyasha practically ran from windows and stayed in the inner courtyard of the castle, where the walls had protected the garden from the majority of the snow. Inuyasha only went into the yard when he was forced by his trainers or one of the children that ran around the castle.

By noon Inuyasha had completely closed himself to the world, preferring to hide in one of his rooms, or better yet one of Sesshomaru's rooms (which he had been found in three times already).

"Inuyasha, after lunch meet me at the front doors, dressed properly for the weather." Sesshomaru looked pointedly at Inuyasha's feet. He knew Inuyasha preferred bare feet, but for the current weather, shoes were needed.

"Do I have to?" Inuyasha whispered, placing his chopsticks on his untouched plate.

"Yes." There was no more discussion for the rest of lunch. When everything was cleaned away, a servant gathered Inuyasha up and walked him back to his room. When there, the servant dressed Inuyasha in a heavy kimono and placed shoes on his feet. In all truths the servant was very surprised that Lord Inuyasha had allowed this-usually he shooed her away, preferring to dress on his own. When all this was done, Inuyasha walked with the servant down to the front of the castle. In the entrance hall, encased in his usual white, stood Sesshomaru.

"Come, Little One." Sesshomaru held out his hand, waiting for his mate to take it. Once Inuyasha had taken his hand, he led him out of the castle, past the gates, and into the forest. By the time they stopped, night had fallen. Thanks to Inuyasha's sated mood, his speed had decreased to slower than Kagome. When they arrived to the clearing Sesshomaru had chosen, it was still snowing lightly, covering the clearing in a dusting of shining snow.

"What are we doing here? Can we go back to the castle, I'm kind of tired," Inuyasha admitted, not wanting to be in the snow.

"No, Inuyasha, you are safe here with me. I will keep you warm and I will keep you safe. If you fall asleep I will keep you warm and when you awaken you will be back home tucked into our bed. I promise no harm will come to you," Sesshomaru whispered into Inuyasha's pointed, flickering ears.

"Inuyasha, do not remember what it has done. Look only at the beauty of it. It matches your skin and hair. Yet you, my dear little brother and mate, outshine it. Stop thinking of its past and think only of its beauty as you do with our relationship. Forgive it, Inuyasha." Sesshomaru took Inuyasha's hand in his and pulled it up until it was even with Inuyasha's eyes, waiting until a snowflake landed in the palm of Inuyasha's hand. Inuyasha watched it melt on his skin, wondering how it had ever covered him. As another one fell he saw its pattern before that one too melted in his palm. Eventually Inuyasha's hand became cold from the air, yet the frozen diamonds still melted in his hand.

Sesshomaru could feel Inuyasha's hand become cold, yet he could not bring himself to lower Inuyasha's hand. For once his brother didn't have a look of hatred or melancholy on his face. He almost seemed to be at peace, and Sesshomaru couldn't help but turn Inuyasha's head away from his hand and kiss him, a sweet chaste kiss, just barely touching his lips to Inuyasha's frozen ones. Inuyasha turned back to his hand, watching as more and more frozen jewels fell into his palm.

They stayed in the clearing not moving an inch until the sun rose, cascading the clearing in an orange glow, giving the cold world a warmed feel.

"Inuyasha, we should return to the castle," Sesshomaru gently urged, attempting to lower Inuyasha's frozen hand.

"I don't want to. They stopped melting." Inuyasha now held a small handful of snow, yet his face was still peaceful and calm. Sesshomaru agreed and the pair spent the day wrapped in Sesshomaru's fur, watching as the snow stopped falling. For one day they were surrounded with nothing but calm.

Just one day of nothing but the snow.


End file.
